Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08HAVANA701
2008-08-27 13:49:00
CONFIDENTIAL
US Interests Section Havana
Cable title:
AGENDA PARA LA TRANSICION PRESENTS FORMAL
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C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000701
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2013
TAGS: CU PGOV PREL PHUM
SUBJECT: AGENDA PARA LA TRANSICION PRESENTS FORMAL
COMPLAINT ABOUT MAY PRESS CAMPAIGN
REF: A. HAVANA 391
B. HAVANA 397
Classified By: COM Jonathan Farrar for Reason 1.4 (b) and (d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000701
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2013
TAGS: CU PGOV PREL PHUM
SUBJECT: AGENDA PARA LA TRANSICION PRESENTS FORMAL
COMPLAINT ABOUT MAY PRESS CAMPAIGN
REF: A. HAVANA 391
B. HAVANA 397
Classified By: COM Jonathan Farrar for Reason 1.4 (b) and (d)
1. (U) Agenda para la Transicion (APT) leaders Martha
Beatriz Roque (MBR) and Vladimiro Roca, flanked by other
members of the APT leadership gave a press conference to
mostly foreign press at Roca's house on August 26, to
announce that they had presented a formal complaint
(denuncia) to the Attorney General's office concerning the
publicity campaign mounted against the opposition and USINT
this past May 19, 20 and 21 (reftels). According to MBR and
Roca, the basis of the complaint is that the government,
specifically certain employees of MINREX, including FM Perez
Roque and North America director Josefina Vidal, and staff of
the television program Mesa Redonda had violated Cuban law by
making public intercepted correspondence and telephone
conversations. Roca was at pains to point out that the
government has the right to read correspondence or tap phones
provided there is an open criminal case involved, which did
not happen to apply in this case, but that at no time may
material obtained by those means be made public. MBR also
stressed that the document was a denuncia (in that sense a
criminal complaint) and not simply a querella (in that sense
a civil complaint),because those accused had committed
criminal violations of Cuban law.
2. (U) In the following Q and A session, MBR noted that all
the evidence needed to pursue a case was publicly available
in the transcripts of the Mesa Redonda television program and
the Communist Party daily "Granma," which published the same
information a day later. She added that it was clear from
the pieces presented that they had been cobbled together from
intercepted conversations and correspondence going back 3
years, with the clear implication that the presentation had
been a fabrication as well. For its part, the press,
especially the Telesur correspondent pushed MBR to say
whether or not it were true that she had contacts with the
U.S. Interests Section or Santiago Alvarez, a Cuban-American
accused of terrorism by the GOC. MBR refused to answer that
question, and Roca commented that it is irrelevant whether
there were meetings or not, or whether the complete story had
been fabricated or not, or whether or not there was a
criminal case that would have allowed for legal interception
of communications. The only relevant point was that
contained in the denuncia: that the revelation of information
obtained by clandestine means is a violation of the law.
3. (U) As noted by both Roca and MBR in their responses to
questions, there is no expectation that the GOC will take any
action on their complaint. They simply want to go on record
that the government violates its own laws.
4. (C) COMMENT: Vlad and MBR are certainly right that the
GOC will take no action on their complaint. Unfortunately,
their effort probably will go unnoticed on the island as the
local media, which no one pays any attention to anyway, will
ignore it completely. Nevertheless, the press conference
may have some impact across the sea if it is reported
accurately in the European media, which was well represented.
End Comment.
FARRAR
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2013
TAGS: CU PGOV PREL PHUM
SUBJECT: AGENDA PARA LA TRANSICION PRESENTS FORMAL
COMPLAINT ABOUT MAY PRESS CAMPAIGN
REF: A. HAVANA 391
B. HAVANA 397
Classified By: COM Jonathan Farrar for Reason 1.4 (b) and (d)
1. (U) Agenda para la Transicion (APT) leaders Martha
Beatriz Roque (MBR) and Vladimiro Roca, flanked by other
members of the APT leadership gave a press conference to
mostly foreign press at Roca's house on August 26, to
announce that they had presented a formal complaint
(denuncia) to the Attorney General's office concerning the
publicity campaign mounted against the opposition and USINT
this past May 19, 20 and 21 (reftels). According to MBR and
Roca, the basis of the complaint is that the government,
specifically certain employees of MINREX, including FM Perez
Roque and North America director Josefina Vidal, and staff of
the television program Mesa Redonda had violated Cuban law by
making public intercepted correspondence and telephone
conversations. Roca was at pains to point out that the
government has the right to read correspondence or tap phones
provided there is an open criminal case involved, which did
not happen to apply in this case, but that at no time may
material obtained by those means be made public. MBR also
stressed that the document was a denuncia (in that sense a
criminal complaint) and not simply a querella (in that sense
a civil complaint),because those accused had committed
criminal violations of Cuban law.
2. (U) In the following Q and A session, MBR noted that all
the evidence needed to pursue a case was publicly available
in the transcripts of the Mesa Redonda television program and
the Communist Party daily "Granma," which published the same
information a day later. She added that it was clear from
the pieces presented that they had been cobbled together from
intercepted conversations and correspondence going back 3
years, with the clear implication that the presentation had
been a fabrication as well. For its part, the press,
especially the Telesur correspondent pushed MBR to say
whether or not it were true that she had contacts with the
U.S. Interests Section or Santiago Alvarez, a Cuban-American
accused of terrorism by the GOC. MBR refused to answer that
question, and Roca commented that it is irrelevant whether
there were meetings or not, or whether the complete story had
been fabricated or not, or whether or not there was a
criminal case that would have allowed for legal interception
of communications. The only relevant point was that
contained in the denuncia: that the revelation of information
obtained by clandestine means is a violation of the law.
3. (U) As noted by both Roca and MBR in their responses to
questions, there is no expectation that the GOC will take any
action on their complaint. They simply want to go on record
that the government violates its own laws.
4. (C) COMMENT: Vlad and MBR are certainly right that the
GOC will take no action on their complaint. Unfortunately,
their effort probably will go unnoticed on the island as the
local media, which no one pays any attention to anyway, will
ignore it completely. Nevertheless, the press conference
may have some impact across the sea if it is reported
accurately in the European media, which was well represented.
End Comment.
FARRAR